Woke Up As Your Friend
by Talliya
Summary: Rinoa breaks up with Squall after years of commitment.


_**I do not own any rights to Final Fantasy 8 or its characters.**_

Squall opened his eyes to the dim grey light of the dawn streaming through the small window set high in the wall to the side of the bed he slept in. His quick SeeD senses found nothing else in the room with him, just as they hadn't for the last three days. It was a feeling he didn't think he would ever get used to – being alone. Being completely alone, was something he'd once hoped for - the feeling of freedom, of peace, that he'd thought only being –finally- alone could give him... had died. One obstinate, irritating, pushy, bossy woman had turned him inside-out and his world upside down.

Rinoa became more than just a job or mission parameter. She was more than a friend, battle companion or Sorceress, and he was far more than just her Knight. But he'd never expected to feel so strongly for someone who annoyed him so badly. He never spoke much, not seeing a reason for words when actions spoke louder. But then Seifer had gone off with an evil Sorceress and taken pleasure in torturing Squall for information that the blonde already knew. This action had been the first ding in Squall's mental armor, because while Seifer taking pleasure in his pain was nothing new, it stemmed more from their rivalry with gunblades and their opposite attitudes then from any real sadistic pleasure on Seifer's part. The blonde enjoyed a good fight, not hurting people just because he could. The actions taken by Seifer during the Second Sorceress War threw everything off kilter for Squall. It left a gaping hole in him that three women were determined to fill with something new.

So between Quistis – a bossy busy-body he'd known most of his life in one capacity or another, Selphie – an upbeat, overly zealous loud mouth he'd known since childhood but had forgotten through the use of GFs, and Rinoa – an annoying pest with a contract on his time; he was able to break from his cast iron mold and allow simple words to affect him. And while he had been gladdened to learn that Seifer's sadistic behavior was more an influence of Ultimecia's own corrupt nature and her control over him, Squall was left changed – more open, at least to those he cared about.

Squall had run Balamb Garden for a couple of years before handing the reins over to Xu and Quistis. He was still a top SeeD and would go on missions if he was needed, or simply wanted for them, but he left the school and moved to Winhill with Rinoa.

They had been living in the small town – helping it grow – for the last two years, were planning their wedding when a new man moved into town. Squall and Rinoa helped him settle in, setting up a shop as he was an alchemist who had worked under Dr. Odine in Esthar, and wanted to use his knowledge to help people.

Rinoa began to pull away, closing her mind to him, squeezing their link as Sorceress and Knight closed. Squall had panicked, asked everyone he knew for advice and tried everything he could think of to keep her. But she was already gone. So Squall had moved out of their cozy home and into the attic of Ellone's house. He was thankful that his Big Sis had moved back to Winhill and started manning the bar next door - the home he'd been born in.

And so he glanced around the sparse space he now called his own with a perturbed frown marring his features. He heard nothing from the rest of the house below him, but knew that was because Ellone and her family had gone to Esthar the night before to visit his father and tell Laguna the news that Squall still couldn't seem to face. That Rinoa, the woman he had fallen in love with and had thought to spend the rest of his existence with, no longer wanted him.

From what Squall had been told after he'd finally confessed to Quistis why he had asked them all for such advice, he knew that Selphie had been so angered by Rinoa's abrupt change of heart that Zell and Irvine had had to forcibly confine her to her and Irvine's home in Trabia to keep her from attacking the Sorceress she considered friend and sister. Squall didn't know if he should feel happy with her response or not – but he was.

His life seemed so bleak now, like he was a ship at full sail in open waters and the wind suddenly died and he was left stranded with no land in sight. She'd only been gone from his side for three days and he already felt like he was drowning. He'd discovered that he hated being alone. After so much promise, so much hope and so many things he had been looking forward to – the loss of that dream left him completely lost.

Squall rose from the bed and made it with the military precision that had always annoyed Rinoa – smirking slightly at the memory of her rolling her eyes at him every morning – before getting dressed for the day. He moved down the ladder and down the stairs to the kitchen to make breakfast sitting at the table to eat before grabbing his phone from the charger in the hall and heading next door.

He quietly opened the door to the bar and got to work on cleaning anything left over from the night before. The work always seemed to help him focus; washing dishes and counter tops so backburner a thing to do that he didn't even have to think about it to do it well. It was as he was finishing with waxing the old wooden floors that the front door creaked open. Squall glanced over on his way behind the counter to put everything away and saw Rinoa. He paused – his whole body simply freezing at the sight of her – not knowing which emotion should win the fight raging inside him. His face remained a blank slate as he raised the bottle of wax and other things in his hands in a type of salute before nodding her way and disappearing through the open closet door behind the counter.

He missed Rinoa's indulgent smile as she watched him go before moving over to the counter. When Squall came back out he was far more composed and even offered her a smile. "What can I do for you?" Only his curiosity came through – the fluttering hope, raging despair and sad anger her presence inspired locked away behind his normally indifferent mask.

She gave her ever happy smile and rocked back and forth on her feet with her hands behind her back, "Did I leave my purse here yesterday?"

Squall blinked for a few seconds before noticing her worry her lip with her teeth. Rinoa had always hated purses so the news was new to him, but he'd put a neon blue one behind the counter last night, "Is it blue?"

He moved down the counter to fetch it as her eyes lit up, "Yes! Neon blue. Oh, I'm so glad it's here! I looked everywhere last night after having dinner here." It was Squall's turn to smile indulgently as he pulled it out and handed it over to her. "Thank you Squall!"

"No problem Rin." He shook his head as she bounded out of the building and headed out himself, locking the door behind him.

The bar didn't officially open until five in the afternoon after all; it was only about nine in the morning now. Squall decided to go for a walk and ended up out in the fields; he pulled out his phone and dialed a number he never expected he would even have. He needed a pick-me-up and didn't want to deal with the over-the-top sympathy that he knew Quistis or Selphie would throw his way.

Seifer picked up on the second ring, "What can I do for you Puberty-boy?"

His cheerful bass brought a truly happy smile to Squall's face for the first time in days despite the insult, "That depends Almasy, what do you think you CAN do for me?" He'd meant it as playful but it came out more sullen and desperate then even he had realized he was.

The smirk and sneer, so much a part of Seifer's being disappeared, "Squall? Man, what's wrong?"

The brunette gunblader hmphed a laugh, "You haven't heard? Where /are/you?" He could picture how his shocked curiosity would make Seifer roll his eyes, but there was no exasperation in the blonde's voice when he answered.

"I'm currently on the White SeeD ship in the middle of who-knows-where. So, what's happened? And before you ask, yes I've been out here for several months."

Squall grinned, Seifer did not sound like he was enjoying his sailing trip. "Rinoa broke up with me..." He paused, "...in every way." Squall hung his head and sat down in the short grass beside the corn field.

Seifer's tone seemed to carry a wince, "Ouch. So, she closed off the Sorceress/Knight connection huh?" There was a pause as the blonde mulled it over, then, "Wait! Hold up, weren't you guys planning your wedding?"

Squall's forehead found his palm as his elbow rested on his knee, "Yes, we were. But then some random guy moved into town... and now." He took a deep breath to steady himself, "And now she's dating him. I feel like I went to sleep next to her one night as her fiancé and woke up the next morning as just her friend."

Squall couldn't see the barely concealed anger on Seifer' face or his shaking head but those around the blonde became decidedly uncomfortable. "You'll be alright Squally. When you lot destroyed Ultimecia my brain felt like it was ripped apart. So you're lucky there. Rinoa cared enough about you to close it off slowly. And while it may hurt now and your first love never truly fades – the pain does. I've always had Rajin and Fujin when things got bad and you've got far more than that. You have people who love you Squall: Quistis, Selphie, Zell, Irvine, your Father, Ellone, Cid, Edea. Heck you've even got me on your side – you are never alone. We'd all freak out if you suddenly disappeared – mostly Selphie – but we'd all miss you." Squall blinked back tears as Seifer put his fears to rest without even knowing he'd had them. "I'll see about heading to Winhill and we can spar when I get there. How does that sound?"

Squall grinned, "Sounds great. Call me whenever you get here." He hung up after Seifer's affirmative response and laid back in the grass just letting the tears go finally. He could still be friends with Rinoa, though it would take time to get used to the notion. In the meantime he had friends he hadn't seen in a year or more who were more than willing to help him cope with the loss.


End file.
